Page 22 of The Game We Played

“You don’t understand.”

My nose wrinkles. “I’m not stalking them. Being a woman doesn’t exempt me from prosecution for stalking. Trust me on this.”

He grins. “And there you go again, proving you’re not boring.”

I roll my eyes. “Trust me. Stalking is boring. The endless hours of doing nothing are a killer. And the lack of bathrooms?” I shiver. “I refuse to wear a diaper.”

He chuckles. “Only you could make me laugh after the day I’m having.”

My chest fills with warmth, and my stomach flutters. I’m the one who can make him laugh?

Knock it off, body. This man isn’t declaring his undying love for me.

“If you don’t want me to research these women and you don’t want me to stalk them, what do you want me to do? I’m not seducing them.”

“For fuck’s sake. Your suggestions get more outrageous the longer we speak. Boring, my ass.” He grins at me and I ignore how it makes me feel all warm and gooey inside.

“What do you need? I’m out of suggestions.”

“I need you to date me.”

“Dude, we’ve been over this. I’m not dating you.”

“We wouldn’t be dating dating. We’d be pretending to date.”

My eyes widen. “You want me to be your fake girlfriend?”

“Until the end of the summer. Once the season begins, we’ll part ways. Don’t worry. It’ll be my fault.”

“Hell, yeah, it will. I’m not a heartbreaker.”

His gaze rakes over me. “Liar.”

Despite myself, I’m intrigued. “What would this fake dating involve?”

“You would attend some events with me and pretend to be my girlfriend. Easy.”

Dating Tanner – whether fake or not – is a bad idea. The man is a walking temptation. But maybe if we date, I can find out what trouble he’s in. I can break the story. A story about Tanner Long no one else knows about could be the thing to save theGazette.

My stomach tingles the way it always does when I’m on the verge of a good story. This is an excellent idea.

“We need to discuss ground rules before we go any further.”

He scowls. “Ground rules?”

“I won’t agree to this without some rules.”

“Fine. What do you propose?”

I tap my chin as I consider the question. “First of all, this is fake. No real feelings are involved.”

If feelings get involved, I’ll lose control. Before I know it, Tanner will be the one telling me what to do for my ‘own good’.

“Can you agree to no real feelings?”

Hurt flashes in his eyes but before I can question him, he blinks and it’s gone. I probably imagined it. No way does Tanner Long care if I develop feelings for him.

“Okay.”